“Together we’re advancing initiatives focused on creating safer, more efficient travel options for all modes of transportation, from vehicles to bicycles to pedestrians,” Dave Ambuehl, the chief deputy district director of Caltrans, said in a news release.
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/new-intersection-project-first-kind-bay-area-19901199.php
None of which are problems they’re actually trying to tackle.
They improve traffic a bit (not solve), and are substantially safer. They’re only meant to do those 2 things, and they’re good at it. Nobody thinks a single intersection idea will fix transportation as we know it.
Together we’re advancing initiatives focused on creating safer, more efficient travel options for all modes of transportation, from vehicles to bicycles to pedestrians
They spent $25M not making travel safer for bicycles and pedestrians, and explicitly making travel less efficient by inducing car demand. $25M could buy Caltrans an entire set of one of their new Stadler kiss trains, to go from 24 trains sets to 25.
edit: Actually this intersection is more dangerous than the existing intersection. It doubles the amount of pedestrian signals that pedestrians have to cross, and eliminates the sidewalk on the east side. Plus, they’re cutting down like 8 trees and not replacing them. This is urban decay.
That quote isn’t referring solely to this specific intersection design.
But yes it’s also safer for bicycles and pedestrians. Just not as safe as not using cars.
And spending $25 million on a 25th train instead, wouldn’t make this interchange 60% safer. Or even 5% safer.
Again. It’s better. Nobody claims it’s perfect.
It’s worse than the existing interchange. This is a one-more-lane project that makes the neighborhood worse for bicylists and pedestrians.
The project will implement a Diverging Diamond Interchange design that will significantly improve traffic flow and safety, while reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. At the end of the project, it will be both safer and easier for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists to access and navigate.
This project will relieve congestion and improve traffic flow on local streets, improve the existing interchange and intersection operations, improve the safety of local streets, and increase capacity of the local roadway network to support future growth. See the Updates tab for related Project Documents.
https://sta.ca.gov/project/redwood-parkway-fairgrounds-dr-improvement-project/
